1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to supporting devices such as those used to support roadway signs and barriers to advise nearby motorists and bystanders of construction sites and other hazards. The present invention also pertains to quick release mechanisms for deploying the supporting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been increasing demand for warning and advisory information concerning worksite activities. For example, organizations charged with safety concerns have come to increasingly appreciate the effectiveness of lightweight temporary sign stands to warn oncoming motorists of nearby work activities. Typically such lightweight sign stands are made to be collapsible for compact storage. In order to complement the sign stand, the sign panels are made of lightweight foldable material. Such completed sign stand assemblies may be conveniently stored in work vehicles, available for ready deployment, thereby bypassing the need to withdraw the sign stand assemblies at a remote location and to schedule their delivery to the worksite. Such sign stand assemblies have offered a great advantage for work operations which last only a day, or part of a day. Work situations of this type present unique demands not associated with long term projects, since motorists will not encounter the worksite on a repeated basis and thus will not have the benefit of past experience as a forewarning. It is important that the sign stand assemblies offer reliable advisory and instructional assistance, particularly for motorists traveling at highway speeds. Sign stand assembles located adjacent a highway must withstand wind gusts generated by moving vehicles as well as wind gusts occurring at outdoor locations, which are usually unabated, especially for multiple lane highway constructions.
Substantial advances have been made in the art of lightweight collapsible sign stand assemblies. For example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,008 has been met with ready commercial acceptance and has been recognized not only for its provision of a strong reliable sign stand support, but has also been found to offer substantial labor savings when the sign stand is deployed, and again when the sign stand is collapsed for storage, after use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,008 provides a quick release mechanism located at the point where support legs are pivotally secured to a base for supporting the sign mast. The quick release mechanism is operated by depressing a lever arm in order to allow free rotating of the support leg with respect to the remainder of the sign stand assembly.
Frequently, sign stand assemblies must be erected or taken down in inclement weather. At times, the combination of wind gusts occurring during inclement weather and a sudden pressure burst from nearby traffic can substantially complicate a worker's task.